Tractor locomotive



May 5, 1925. s. G. JONES TRACTOR 'LOCOMOTIVE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 25, 1924 May 5, 1925.

' s. G. JONES I TRACTOR LocoMoTvE Filed April 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 5, 1925, Y ,o

UNITED STATES SAMUEL e, JONES, or Nonrotx, VIRGINIA.

TRACTOR LOCOMOTIVE.

Application led April 25, 1924. Serial No. 708,925.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUELG. JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norfolk, in the count-y of' Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tractor Locomotives, of which the fol-lowing is a. specification.

My present invention has for its primary object the provision of novel means whereby the power of an ordinary farm tractormay be Autilized for propelling cars such' as are used for hauling logs from lumber camps and in similarl places and undersimilar conditions. The invention seeks particularly to provide a novel mounting for the tractor whereby it may be very easily and quickly reversed so thatl the train of cars may be p driven in eithery direction although the driving mechanism of the tractor may be operated in its forward travel position.r Another object of the invention is to provide novel means whereby the power of the tractor may be transmitted to 'the wheels of the truck or locomotive, and other objectsy of the invention will appear incidentally in the' course ofthe following description.A

The invention resides in certain novel feat-ures which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. f In the 'accompanying' drawings: Y Figure 1 is a side'elevation, partly broken away, of an apparatus embodying my improvements; l y

Fig. 2 is a plan view with the tractor removed, a portion of the transmission housing ofthe tractor being indicated in its operative position; Y y

Fig isa longitudinal section on the ii" regular line B-B ofFig. 2.

Incarrying outiny invention, I employ a truck consisting of'sills 1 and cross bars 2 connecting the ends jof the sills, which sills and cross bars may be ofany preferred design and will generally beconstructed of channel bars and I orH beams. To the under sides of the sills 1, I secure the pedestals 3 in which are mounted for vertical sliding movement `iournal boxes 4 including the brasses 5 andoil chambers G. Springs 7 are housed within the pedestals between the upper sides vof the respective journal boxes yand the tops of the pedestals ,so Ythat the journal boxes .will `be yieldably`lield to the lower ends of the pedestalsV and the wheels 8 of the vtruckheld to the track 9 Vnotwith standingirregularities in the track or oscillation of the truck. The wheels S are of the usual flanged car wheel type and secured lixedly to the axles 10 which extend transversely of the truck and are fitted in the' journal boxes inthe usual manner. Upon the `ends of each axle, I secure sprockets 11 and at the center of each axle I secure thereto a sprocket 12, a chain 13 being trained around the said sprockets 12 so that the two axleswill be caused to rotate in unison.

At the center of the truck, I secure to the sills 1 a frame or plate 14 which extends between the sills and is provided with a central opening 15 and also upon its upper side with a rib or bearing flange 16 concentric with the said opening. AY super-frame consistingof sills or side beams 17 and cross beams 18 connecting the ends of the side sills is disposed above the truck frame, the sills and beams 17 and 18 corresponding to the sills and beams 1 and 2, respectively. To the under sides of the side sills 17 and bridging the space between them, I secure ay turntable or bearing plate 19 which is provided centrally with a depending stud 2O fitting loosely through the opening 15 in the lower bearing plate 14. An annular rib or bearing flange 21 is formed upon the under side of the plate 19 concentric with the said stud and adapted to rest upon the mating rib 16 on the bearing plate 14, as shown clearly in Fig. V3, an effective fifth wheel being thus produced so that the upper frame may be shifted pivotally relative to the lower frame but atthe same time excessive vlateral oscillation of 'the upper yframe will be avoided. A king bolt 22 is fitted through the fifth wheel so as to restrain vertical separating movement of the members thereof and retain the concentric relation of the same.

The tractor, indicated conventionally at V23, vis carried by the upper frame and is disposed between the side beams or sills .17 thereof. The front end of the tractor is supported on the said beams or sills by a pivot 'bar orstuds 24 extending laterally freni the tractor and engaged in bearings 25 provided therefor upon the sills at the front `ends thereof. IVhen the tractor is to be mounted upon the super-frame, the rear ground wheels of the tractor are removed and driving sprocket wheels 26 are secured upon the ends of the rear axle in place of theground wheels so as to provide means Cil for utilizing the power oli the tractor engine, sprocket chains 27 being trained around the said sprockets 26 and the sprockets ll secured upon the rear axle of the truck. To support the rear axle ot the tractor, provide the trames Q8 which consist substantially ot inverted U-shaped bars or yokes secured rigidly upon the upper sides ot the beams 1T at the rear end thereo't and providing an open space through which the ends ot the axle may project. lit preferred, a hase block Q9 may be secured upon thebeams 17 to reinforce the structure and the said base blocks may be provided in various heights so that the 'trames may be easily set to the normal positions ot tractors. The rear vertical side ot each trameor yoke 2S is provided with a slot 3() and a bearing arm 3l. has its rear end pivoted within the said slot, as indicated at The said arm is provided between its ends with au opening which receives the adjacent end of the rear axle 3l ot the tractor, and' in the 'trent end ot the arm is pivotally mounted a collar or nut 34k which has threaded engagement with the lower end ot' an adjusting stem or rod 35 extending upwardly'through the top` of the yoke or :trame 28 and provided with an annular shoulder or rest 3G which bears upon the top of the trame, as shown in Fig. 3. YEhe stem or adjusting rod 35 is equipped with a hand wheel 37 at its upper end, and it will be readilyv understood that, by rotating the hand wheel and the stem in the proper direction, the liront end ot the bearing arm or lever 3l will be causedV to move upwardly or downwardly and the axle Sat thus shifted so that the driving chain 2T willY be placed under the propertension to etectively transmit the motion ot the sprocket wheel lo to the sprocket ll. lt will be noted that the adjusting rods and the cooperating elements are duplicated, one setbcing provided at each sideot the machine so that the power will be transmitted to both ends ot the rear axle and thereby most advantageously applied to the truck.

To over-come possible rocking movement ot thetractor and the upper tramev during operation, l provide the rests or supporting blocks 38 which aresecured upon the truck at such points that they will lie under the ends olf the super-trame when the latter .is in working position, the ends ot the beams 17 resting upon the said blocks 38, as shown in.

Figs. l an(L 3. l also secure to the corners ot the super-trame brackets 39 which are arranged to overtlie posts l() secured upon the beams l, locking pins or bolts #l1 being inserted through alined openings in the said brackets 39 and posts et() to lock the superraine against pivotal movement when the apparatus is in use.

A drawhead or coupling 4t2 is provided at each end of the truck, and this coupling may be of any known or approved type. ln use, the cars to be hauled are coupled together in a train and the train coupled to that end ot' the truck which, for the time being, is. the rear end and the tractor is disposed so that it will be arranged in the same man-ner that it would be arranged to travel forwardly in ordinary use. It will be readily noted that the front end` ot the ltractor is piivotally mounted upon the super-trame so that the tractor may have movement in a vertical plane while the rear end is supported by the bearing arms or levers 3l within the yokes or trames 28. then the engine oli' the, tractor is4 started and permitted to run, motion and power will be transmitted therefrom. directly to the rear axle ot the tractor in the usual manner, and. thismotion and power will be transmitted through the sprockets 26 and chains27 t-o the rear sprockets l'l so that the truck will loe ycaused to travel forwardly. Then the train ol cars has been moved to the point ot discharge, the tractor can be very quickly reversed so that the cars may be driven upon a return trip. To effect the reversalv of the tractor, the lockingpins il are withdrawn, the adjusting. rods 35 are rotated so, as to swingthe levers or bea-ring arms 8l downwardly toa sullicient extent to slacken the chains 2T and; permit themr toibo disengaged trom the sprockets ll.. The super-trame with the tractor thereon isV then rot-ated in a horizontal plane about the itth wheel so that the front end ofI the tractor' will be present ed to that end of the4 truck which was previously the rear endx thereo'lf. rlfhc chains 27 are then engaged with the adjacent sprockets 1'1 and the locking pins` L tl restored, whereupon theapparatuswill be ready 'for the return; trip.

It desired, brackets #L3 may be secured to and depend from the sills 1 near the ends thereof and carry across beamed, as shown in Fig. 1 sov that, should the locomotive jump the track, it will slide on the rails instead of runningl on the ties.

The engine oit the tractorA is operated in exaetlythesame manner that it` is operated to propel; the tractor in, its usual. iield ot operations and no change` in the construction or arrangement of any of the parts ot the-tractor is necessary, except so tar as the removal-of the groundwheelso't the tractor may be considered' an alteration.V The invention provid-es a very economical means for hauling car-s in lumber` camps or in manufacturing. plants or other places and the trucks.- may be oit suchdimensions that they willbe tted. to run uponlnarrow gage tracks or' upon standard gage tracks as may be desired.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a wheeled-truck, a super-frame mounted upon the truck for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, means for securing a tractor upon the super-frame, means for operatively connecting the rear axle of the tractor with an axle of the truck, and means for vertically adjusting the rear axle of the tractor relative to the superframe whereby to set the same in Working position or bring it into an inoperative position to permit reversal of the tractor and the super-frame.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a Wheel-supported truck, a super-frame disposed above the truck, a fifth Wheel pivotally connecting the truck and the super-frame at the centers thereof, means at the ends of the super-frame for locking the same to the truck, and fixed supports upon the truck under the ends of the super-frame.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a Wheel-supported truck, a super-frame mounted on the truck and relatively reversible, a tractor pivotally mounted at its front end upon the super frame, and means for Voperatively connecting the rear end of the tractor with Wheels of the truck. Y

4. Ini an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a Wl1eel-supported truck, a super-frame mounted upon the truck and relatively reversible, a tractor pivotally mounted at its front end upon the super-frame, operativeV connections between the rear axle of the tractor and Wheels of the truck, yokes erected on the super-frame truck, a super-frame mounted on the truck and relatively reversible, a tractor pivotally mounted at its front end upon the superframe, sprocket Wheels secured upon the rear l axle of the tractor, chain and sprocket connections between said Wheels and an axle of the truck, and means carried by the superframe and engaging the rear axle of the tractor to tension the said chains.

6. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a Wheel-supported truck, a super-frame mounted thereon, a tractor pi-votally mounted at its front end upon the superLframe, supports upon the rear end of the super-frame adjacent the rear axle of the tractor, chain and sprocket connections between the rear axle of the tractor and an] axle of the truck, bearing arms pivotally mounted at one end upon the sai-d supports and having their intermediate portions engaging around tlie rear axle of the tractor, adjusting rods mounted in the said supports, and nuts pivotally carried by the free ends of the said bearing arms and having threaded engagement with the said adjusting rods.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

SAMUEL e. Joints.V [1.. e] 

